


Howdy Neighbour

by LoBear28



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Girl next door, boy next door
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-07-12 06:59:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15990056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoBear28/pseuds/LoBear28
Summary: Imagine your surprise, and delight, when a gorgeous guy moves into the apartment next to you.Collection of ficlets, inspired by prompts or songs, of Steve being your new neighbour. Can you imagine? Send me ideas if you like!





	1. Intro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: You’re my new neighbour who came over to introduce yourself. I'm hungover as hell and answered the door in my underwear.

You were about this close to jumping in a cold shower in an effort to calm down the pounding in your head when there was a rap on your front door.

“Ugh, finally,” you groaned, dragging yourself off the couch. Your caffeine was here. “Jake, I hope you got me an extra shot of espresso ‘cause my head is pounding like a motherfu-”

When you opened the door you were fully expecting to see your petite, gay friend Jake, preferably with a coffee cup the size of your leg and a cinnamon bun or five. This was a fair assumption. After the party he’d dragged you to last night, he’d texted you half an hour ago promising to bring over breakfast for the monstrous hangovers you both were now suffering.

The guy—man— _specimen_ standing in front of you was most definitely not your petite gay friend with breakfast goodies.

You blinked slowly at the expanse of chest at eye level and raised your gaze up, up, to the most gorgeous man you’d ever laid eyes on. Chiseled good looks must’ve been named after this guy. He had slicked back blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and muscles you’d only seen on celebrities. You blamed your hangover for the flush of heat that burst within you.

The stranger was fidgeting, rubbing the back of his neck and his cheeks and the tips of his ears visibly pinked. “Uh, I can, um, come back in a few…”

Your addled brain struggled to catch up. What was his problem? "No, um, you're fine..." With a sudden flash of clarity, and an eruption of goosebumps on your thighs, you looked down, swore and slammed the door. You weren’t wearing any pants. “Stupid, stupid,” you muttered to yourself as you grabbed a sweatshirt from the hook on the wall, tying it around your hips and adjusting it enough to be decent before yanking the door open again. Stranger was still there, both hands buried in his front pockets as he rocked on his heels. He straightened, his attention on you.

“I'm so sorry to bother you,” he said quickly. “I just moved in to the apartment next door and wanted to introduce myself. Is this a bad time?” The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile, revealing a dimple on his left cheek.

Oh lord, he was cute. What had you done to deserve this mortifying torture? You blamed the tequila. “Oh my god, please don’t apologize. I'm sorry you have to deal with all this crazy early in the morning.” You waved a hand over yourself. “I'm a little hungover and was expecting my best friend with a caffeine fix. Believe me, I don’t usually answer the door in my underwear,” you muttered, rubbing the side of your nose in embarrassment.

Stranger chuckled and broke into a wide smile as beautiful as him. “I'll take your word on that.” He stuck out a hand. “I'm Steve by the way.” He used his other hand to point to the apartment--apparently now occupied-- to your right.

His large hand engulfed yours, and you could feel calluses against the thin skin of your wrist. You met his blue eyes and smiled, knowing you had a dimple of your own in your arsenal. 

“Welcome to the building Steve. I'm Iris.”

“Pretty.” His eyes widened and there was another noticeable darkening of his ears. “I, uh, mean your name. Iris is a pretty name. Not that you're not pretty, you are, I ju—”

“Iris?”

Steve immediately dropped your hand and you both turned to the new voice.

“Jake,” you greeted your best friend with a tight smile. He was carrying a tray with two huge coffee cups and a brown paper bag with grease stains on the bottom. “I was just meeting my new neighbour. Steve, this is my best friend Jake, Jake my new neighbour Steve.” The two men shook hands.

“Good to meet you Steve. I'm gay by the way, Iris here is single as a pringle and ready to mingle.”

 “Oh my god, _Jake_ ,” you groaned and grabbed him by the arm.

 “Well I'll leave you to your breakfast,” Steve said, backing up with a chuckle and tip of his head. “Nice to meet you both.”

“You too Steve, see you around.”

As he turned to his apartment you and Jake silently watched him walk way. He looked as good from the back as the front. Only once he was out of sight did you break into giggles, trying to hush each other as you hurried into your apartment.

“Holy shit, I can't believe that hunk of man is your new neighbour,” Jake said dreamily as he handed you your coffee.

Your brain was still stumbling over the fact that Steve had called you pretty. Hungover-and-answering-the-door-in-your-underwear-first-thing-in-the-morning pretty.

“Yeah,” you agreed with a sigh. What an introduction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come on now, Steve must have interacted with neighbours other than "Kate".  
> [](http://tinypic.com?ref=4hzbzr)  
> 


	2. Overture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I heard screaming, what happened, are you okay??

Steve was just sitting down to eat dinner and read the paper when he heard the faint but tell-tale sound of a high pitched scream. He rose slowly to his feet, head cocked, straining to hear more.

There came a string of shrieks.

He moved to the living room and pressed his ear to the wall adjoining the apartment next to his. Your apartment. He felt a little silly, kneeling on the couch as he was, but that didn’t matter when he could clearly discern your terrified exclamations of, _oh god, no_!

Fearing the worst, he leaped into action, running out into the hall and hesitated only for a second when he was standing outside your door. Should he kick the door in? Would a regular person do that? He was after all, just Steve to you, not Captain America, hero and Avenger. Deciding that the average person might take a different route, he settled for pounding his fist on your door.

“Iris? Iris are you ok? I heard screaming?” Within, footsteps approached, and he took a slight step back, bracing himself just in case.

“Steve?” You appeared in the now open doorway, eyes wide, hair falling in wisps from its bun, and a broom in your left hand. A look of pure relief crossed your face when you saw him. “Thank god! You need to help me!” You grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him into your apartment.

Steve did a quick scan of the perimeter; your balcony door was open, the lavender curtains billowing softly in the evening breeze, and there were a couple couch cushions on the floor but otherwise nothing looked out of place. To his right your cat Luna was lounging on the kitchen island, watching him with a calm indifference.

He turned to look at you. “Are you alright?” he asked again, concern in his tone and in his gaze. “What’s going on?”

With a sudden groan, you dropped his hand so you could cover your face with your own. “This is really embarrassing,” you muttered, peering up at Steve through your fingers. “First off, I'm fine, please calm down.” You could feel the restless energy rolling off of him in waves; see the way his muscles were tensed under the fabric of his t-shirt. And now you were noticing the way he looked in his t-shirt and sweatpants, perfectly rumpled and casual. You had probably interrupted his evening ‘cause he could hear you freaking out through the walls like a crazy person and he had come running like the good guy he was.

Steve reached out, taking gentle hold of your wrist to pull your hand off your face. His blue eyes were bored into yours. Shit, now your face was on fire. “Explain,” he requested softly.

You took a deep breath. “My stupid cat decided to bring me a present in the form of a bat except the bat was still alive and I tried to chase it back outside but it kept swooping down at me!” Your voice lowered in shame. “And now it's in the bathroom and I don’t know what to do.”

You looked up at Steve up through your lashes as his gaze roamed over your face. The corner of his mouth twitched, then his nose, and suddenly he let out a guffaw of a laugh and then he was just full on laughing, head thrown back. One of his hands clapped on his chest while he raised the other to swipe at tears that had sprung to his eyes. Your jaw dropped, surprised at his reaction, but soon you were giggling right along too.

“Sorry,” he managed to say between chuckles, “that is just the last thing I expected.”

“Noted,” you said with a grin. “And I'm sorry if I worried you.”

“You did,” he replied with a smile so soft it made you blush again. “But apology accepted. Let’s get that little guy out of your house. He’s probably more scared than you.”

“Doubt that,” you muttered as you led Steve to your bathroom.

It took them a good half an hour to get the bat out of your apartment. A half hour of sweating and swearing and jumping over furniture and waving of towels. When it had finally been shuffled out into the night you’d shouted in triumph as you shut the balcony door and promptly fell to your knees, hands raised above you. Steve had chuckled at your reaction but plunked down onto your sofa with a sigh of relief.

You fixed your messy hair back into some semblance of order and stood to go to your fridge, grabbing two beers.

“My thanks,” you said, offering the cold bottle to Steve, who clinked it to yours before taking a generous pull of the liquid. “Wanna stay for dinner? I can put in a pizza. I owe you.”

Steve placed his half empty bottle on the coffee table and shook his head slightly. “I actually have food in the oven.”

“Shit, sorry, I took you away from dinner.” You stood, eager to put this embarrassing night behind you. “Let me leave you to your evening, Steve.”

“Actually…” He rubbed the back of his neck, something you were starting to notice he only did when he was uncomfortable. “I made extra. Do you want to...join me? Bring some more beer and we’ll call it even?”

Butterflies fluttered in your stomach as Steve stared up at you expectantly. “You sure? I don’t want to intrude on you.”

“Absolutely,” he said, an odd vulnerability peeking through in his expression. “Better than an evening alone.”

There it was, you realized. The common thread that was connecting you both. You both were clearly independent individuals, content to be alone, but it didn't mean you liked it. Perhaps the loneliness in you had recognized the same in him. 

 “That does sounds nice,” you agreed with a soft smile. You grabbed the case of beer in your fridge and followed Steve to share dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://tinypic.com?ref=jabey8)  
> 
> 
> Much love to @dailyau on tumblr, their prompts are gold.
> 
> Title song: Overture by Sleeping at Last


	3. Tougher Than The Rest

_Well it's Saturday night_  
_You're all dressed up in blue_  
_I been watching you awhile_  
_Maybe you been watching me too_  
_So somebody ran out_  
_Left somebody's heart in a mess_  
_Well if you're looking for love_  
_Honey I'm tougher than the rest_

* * *

It was a balmy Saturday evening and the streets were starting to get busier as Steve was returning home from the gym. It had been mentioned to him many times that he had a plethora of gym equipment at his disposal at the Triskelion, more than he needed really. He had two good legs and arms to run and punch and that was enough for him. The small local gym he’d found a few blocks from his apartment was a grungy basement space that catered to folks that were looking for a place to vent their frustrations more than a place to exercise, and that was just fine for him. When he needed space to clear his head he’d taken to running through the National Mall before the sun rose. It was quiet and calming and grounded him.

He hiked his gym bag higher on his shoulder as he came to a stop behind a small crowd of people waiting to cross the street at a red light. There was a flash of colour ahead of him that he was immediately drawn to as the crowd started forward again. With his gaze locked on the pop of blue, he sidestepped people left and right as he closed the distance between himself and the stranger. It was a woman; that much was clear. Her hair fell in glossy waves over one shoulder, bouncing lightly in tune with her quick steps. The aforementioned blue of the dress she wore stood out brightly amongst the grey of the city. Steve found himself giving her an appraising look. The dress had a lace back that offered a tease of skin and hugged the curves of her waist before flaring out at her knees.

As he walked, he found himself wondering where she was going all dressed up as she was. Probably a date. It was a warm Saturday night and people went out on Saturday nights. With a frown, he thought of the empty apartment waiting for him and the dinner he’d be eating alone before coming up with ways to pass the time until trying to go to sleep. He was so caught up in his thoughts he missed the woman in blue turn off the sidewalk. His building was just ahead and he paused outside the front doors for a moment, scanning the area for where she could have gone.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he entered the building and trudged up the stairs to his apartment. As he neared the top floor he could hear someone muttering obscenities to themselves interspersed with sniffling. Once he had a clear line of sight he was surprised to see the woman in blue—his neighbour—poised in front of her door as she struggled with her key.

“Iris?” He called out hesitantly as he cleared the top step.

You jumped, dropping your keys as you swung around with a gasp. Steve stood at the top of the stairs, hands held up in front of him as if to show he meant no harm.

“Shit, Steve, you scared me,” you muttered as you bent to grab your keys, trying to discreetly wipe any wayward tears from your face as you did. Your gorgeous neighbour had incredible timing.

“You look nice,” he said tentatively as he drew closer, close enough to see her tear streaked face and how she hastened to wipe away their existence. “Got a hot date or something?”

You couldn’t help it—you snorted. “Not quite,” you replied with a sarcastic chuckle. “I was supposed to be going out with this guy again but he texts me half an hour before our date saying he didn’t see us going anywhere. This is after I bought us tickets for an event of course.” You rolled your eyes and turned to thump your head against your door. “Why do I bother, I’m so stupid.”

Steve was right next to you now, gently pulling you back by your shoulder. “Hey,” he chastised, a small frown on his face, “it sounds like that guy’s the stupid one. He’s clearly missing something special.”

To your horror tears gathered in your eyes and you ducked your head to avoid eye contact with Steve, feeling far too vulnerable in the moment.

“That’s sweet. You’re sweet. But I’m just gonna head in and cuddle my cat if that’s alright with you.”

“Would you want to go out with me?” Steve blurted out before he lost his nerve. He cringed with sudden embarrassment, hoping to have broached this subject with more tact, but quickly shoved it down. The chance was here in front of him and damned if he didn’t jump at it.

You paused in your doorway and turned around. He stood with his hands in his pockets, watching you with earnestness in his blue eyes that nearly took your breath away.

A blush rose to your cheeks. “I don’t need a pity date Steve.”

“No,” he said firmly, shaking his head. “Not a pity date. A date. With me. If you’ll have me.” He smiled shyly, the dimple in his left cheek making a wanton appearance. “I like you Iris. I like talking to you and being around you. Whaddya say...take me as your date?”

You were at a loss for words. Steve was asking you out. He _liked_ you. Your heart was pounding.

“Okay,” you accepted in a soft voice, and were rewarded with a smile so joyful that it felt like a flock of butterflies had just taken off in your gut in response.

“Gimme five to change and meet you here alright?”

You nodded dumbly and with another cherubic grin Steve disappeared into his apartment and you your own. You freshened yourself up, covering the evidence of your frustrated tears from earlier. A spritz of perfume and you were back in the hallway trying to lean against the wall casually like you weren’t about to go out with the sweetest and handsomest guy you’d ever met.

When Steve emerged from his apartment your mouth went dry. He had changed into black slacks and a blue bottom down that hugged the wide breadth of his shoulders. The sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and your gaze was immediately drawn to the cords of muscle there. You’d always been an arm girl. As he approached you his scent washed over you. He smelled clean, like soap, and his cologne was something warm and woodsy, an intoxicating mix that had you leaning towards his bulk. He towered over you but from the moment you’d met you’d never felt anything but safe in his presence. It was strange and exciting and comforting all at the same time.

“I lied before,” Steve greeted, voice low. “You don’t just look nice. You look absolutely beautiful.”

Heat flooded your face at the sincerity laid bare in his words. “You don’t hold anything back do you?” you asked softly as you both started down the stairs.

Steve admired the rosy blush on your cheeks, instigated from just a few simple but true words on his part. His heart seemed to skip in response, something he hadn’t felt since his sickly days and numerous health problems. In this circumstance, with a beautiful woman beside him, it was most welcome. He considered your words before answering honestly.

“I’ve learned that time can pass you by in a flash. Before you know it, all you have left are memories and regrets. I don’t want to miss anything. Not anymore.”

You listened to Steve raptly as you led him to your destination. He seemed so calm, collected and put together, but you sensed that under the surface he was a dark, swirling mass of emotions, caring and passionate. Sad. A question was on the tip of your tongue but you felt awkward asking it of him.

He must’ve seen your curiosity on your face because he nudged you gently with his elbow, prompting, “I can see you want to say something. Please, go ahead.”

You plunged your hands in your pockets, still feeling unable to meet his blue eyes. “You lost someone you loved.” It wasn’t so much a question, you were almost sure of it, but you were looking for a confirmation.

Steve nodded. “I did, yes.”

You could hear the hurt underlying his tone and you suddenly felt awful. “God, I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that, it's none of my business.” You placed a hand on his arm. “Forget I said anything, ok?” Before you could pull back, his hand had encompassed yours, large and warm and rough.

“Please don’t apologize. I don’t talk about my past often. But I would like to one day…with you.” Here was someone who didn’t know his history or the memories that haunted him. You didn’t know his story before he’d had a chance to tell it himself. And to his slight surprise, he wanted to share that part of his life with you someday, wanted to let you in. He was tired of feeling alone in a world full of people.

“I would love to get to know you better, Steve,” you said with a soft smile and squeeze of his arm.

People were milling around on the sidewalk, but you and Steve only had eyes for each other as time seemed to slow and stretch between you. Something was beginning here.

“I hope you can dance,” you said suddenly, pulling away and starting towards a nondescript building a few feet away.

Blinking slowly, Steve stared after you. “What?”

 “It’s a jazz bar. They brought in a live band to play all sorts of old school classics. We’re gonna dance Steve.” Your tone left no room for denial. Though he didn’t really want to. Deny you, that is. “Come on!” You disappeared into the dark interior, the sweet sound of a saxophone drifting out onto the sidewalk.

 Steve tipped his head back with a small chuckle. Even here it seemed his past was still breathing down his neck, pulling up painful memories. Far above him, in a sky just as dark but so different than the one he’d once known, stars blinked into sight, still bright, still burning. Taking a deep breath, he followed you into the bar. He was ready for this.

* * *

 _Well there's another dance_  
_All you gotta do is say yes_  
_And if you're rough and ready for love_  
_Honey I'm tougher than the rest_  
_If you're rough enough for love_  
_Baby I'm tougher than the rest_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from the beautiful song by Bootstraps, originally by Bruce Springsteen.
> 
>  
> 
> [](http://tinypic.com?ref=2rcxxmr)  
> 


End file.
